Doumeki Haruka fell to his knees and sucked in deep, greedy gasps of air. He pushed the tip of his sword into the ground and leaned on the hilt in an attempt to keep himself upright.

The scouts had not lied. There had been a nest of witches five leagues to the south of their village. As a general, he'd taken two squadrons of hunters with him to eradicate the nest of nearly a dozen witches. These women, and women they were for there was not one young girl among them, had been powerful. They had also been crazy enough to summon spirits to aid them.

General Doumeki Haruka was the only one left alive.

His side was split open and he'd lost vision in his right eye from the blood that continued to leak into it from his head wound. Haruka's body shook and he clutched at his chest as his heart quivered painfully.

His death was soon coming, he could feel. At forty-four years old he was already feeling the effects of a weakened heart. He had fought too much, too young, and been injured too often to live any longer than a couple more years, if he was lucky.

"Ah... hunter. My hero after all."

Haruka's head snapped up at the new voice he'd just heard. Last he'd looked around there was no one left alive in the clearing. The owner of the voice came into his view as the person kneeled in front of him. Soft, slender hands cupped his face and suddenly his vision was locked on a pair of deep blue eyes gazing back at him.

It was the most beautiful face of a man he'd ever seen. As the man came closer he felt baby-fine hair tickle at his cheek. "Who-" He tried to back up and away from the tender embrace.

"Hold still, general. If your side opens up any more your organs will start to spill." Those gentle hands held tighter and moved to his neck. Haruka felt his body freeze and refuse to move no matter how many times he tried to struggle.

"Who are you? How did you get here?"

The man smiled sedately as he began the meticulous process of removing Haruka's ruined and bloody armor. "Watanuki Kimihiro." Haruka blinked when the man's hand swept across his forehead and removed some of the blood there. A cooling sensation skittered across his skin, and as the wound began to close it felt like the tiny little feet of insects were running across the newly mending flesh.

A healer? It was plausible, but the man did not have the aura of one.

"Lay down, Haruka."

The hunter did not even need to try and comply, because the invisible bonds around him tightened just slightly and pulled, then he found himself on his back with his wound fully exposed to this stranger. Watanuki pushed his hands against the opening in his side. The same cooling and tickling attacked him again as the larger wound was bound together. Haruka watched in fascination as his blood slipped past those slim, elegant fingers. Haruka groped his lucidity back from wherever it was being dragged to. "How do you know my name?"

The beautiful man smiled at him serenely. "Dear hunter. I know many things about you." He suddenly lifted one of his slender legs over the hunter so that he was now straddling him, then leaned down and tucked his face into the crook of Haruka's neck. "You are a general, and a highly decorated one. You have a son that admires you and a grandson that idolizes you. Your wife committed suicide not five years ago after her brother, a hunter, died a particularly painful death from the Hunter's Heart Attack." A tongue ran up his neck and cleared a path in the blood. "You already are dying, and you wonder why you lived while your much younger hunters in your squads tonight died."

Haruka's heart thudded loudly in his chest. "What are you?"

Watanuki clucked his tongue. "I'm not a what, Haruka! Please, Kimihiro will do!"

Haruka struggled against his bindings more. "You're not a witch... you don't smell like one. What are you?"

The man sighed dramatically, then sat up straight. The shift in position placed more weight on Haruka's lower region. His body twitched in reply, but the man merely smiled again. "A Dimension Traveler, and I've been watching you, Doumeki Haruka. I believe you just might be the one."

His heart beat louder still even as his stomach spasmed in fear. "You shouldn't exist- Argh!" Haruka's arms came free of his invisible bonds and he clutched at his chest in pain.

"Haruka," Watanuki admonished. He leaned down again and placed his hands underneath of where the general was clutching himself.

The relief was immediate. Hakura felt an immensely heavy weight lift from his chest as the agony was washed away by this man's magic. His eyes became unfocused as a deep sense of pleasure and peace filled him. It felt like a sweet song was vibrating through his bones, the serenity that filled him was unlike any he'd ever experienced, even during his most successful meditations. "I-" He tried, but really he didn't have the brain power to think beyond that.

Watanuki kept one of his hands in place as he leaned down and pressed his lips against Haruka's. "Breathe easy, my hunter. I found you, and just in time."

Kimihiro smelled like summer rain. The general never wanted those hands to leave him.

Wandering lips traveled down his neck to his clavicle and suckled greedily. "I must leave you, but I will leave a parting gift. I will find you again soon, my dear Haruka."

Teeth bit down into the skin of his shoulder, but Haruka was so drunk from the effects of the healing spells he barely registered the pain. Magic filled him again, different from any other magic he'd felt before. His muscles tightened in him with strength and the rattling of his weary heart stilled, then the pumping muscle became steady. Kimihiro's scent filled his nose and all he could see was soft black hair and a cloudy sky above him.

"No," Kimihiro whispered above him. The man sighed with dejection and Haruka wondered what had gone wrong. "Not again..." He lifted himself, his eyes filled with disappointment.

The general's eyebrows knitted together in concern. "Kimihiro...?"

The Traveler's hands slid across his jaw line. "It's not you, but even still. I have given you my seal, and I will care for you." He shook his head. "The effects will be swift, and you will be unable to fight it. I beg you not to try, it will only hurt." He stood up fully. Haruka's eyes teared up at the sudden loss. He didn't understand what went wrong, but the sadness in the air made him want to fix it.

There was a rush of air both hot and cold, then Kimihiro was gone.

. . . . . . . . . .

Two weeks later found Haruka going mad with loss. Every night he dreamed those deep blue eyes were all he could see. Kimihiro had said he would find him again, but how long did he have to wait?

The pains in his chest were very nearly gone. On the few instances that it had returned the mark on his neck would flare to life with heat that slithered down his skin and seeped into his heart. While uncomfortable at first, it did bring relief that he was grateful for.

His son had noticed he was acting distant ever since the catastrophe on his last mission. Everyone assumed it was a multitude of things that was causing the change in demeanor, his age and the nightmares it must have been causing the most likely factors.

Kino had seen his father go through similar circumstances and noticed that Haruka had never acted quite this way before.

That night, as the two sat together in the family home, away from the barracks for once, Kino noticed how his father merely stared at his food with little interest in it. He merely sipped his tea and twiddled with his eating utensils like Kino's four-year old son was oft to do when something did not go his way.

"Dad?" He asked. Haruka did not seem to hear him. Not even a flicker of recognition passed over his eyes. "Dad," he pressed again.

Haruka's tired yellow eyes looked up at him across the table. It was just the two of them, as Kino's wife Yakani had taken their son Shizuka to bed a few minutes prior. "Hmm?"

Kino sighed. "I'm worried about you, dad. You've been more quiet than normal. And you haven't smiled since..."

Haruka sighed. "I suppose I have." Here he smiled, even though it looked forced and fake. "I'm fine. Don't worry for an old man like me."

"Father," Kino pressed. Such sentiments had never been tolerated in their house before.

Haruka's smile was genuine this time. He sighed afterward and dropped his utensils to rub a hand across his shoulder. Kino's eyes narrowed as he noticed the gesture. Haruka had been rubbing that spot a lot lately. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Haruka shrugged and went to stand. "Nothing damaging."

Kino stood with him and moved to stand in front of his father. Without waiting for consent he grabbed the older man's wrist and moved it out of the way, which left his other hand free to pull down the neck of the kimono that Haruka wore.

He hissed when he saw the mark upon his father's skin, a pink arch that seeped with magic around it. "No!"

Haruka snapped away from his son's hold and pulled his kimono properly closed again.

"You've been cursed!" He nearly shouted.

The general closed his eyes. "It's not a curse, Kino. It's the reason I've not been in so much pain recently."

Kino pulled a crinkled spell ward from one of the pockets in his clothes and advanced on his father. "The hell it's not! Please, father, tell me you haven't gone senile yet!" There was a brief struggle as Haruka fought off his son's advance with the ward, but eventually the paper managed to touch his skin. Kino yelped when it lit on fire immediately on contact. "What is that?"

The general's hand went back to covering his neck. "Nothing you've seen before. Please, trust your father on this. There's nothing to fight here."

Kino opened his mouth to protest when a knocking sound came from the door. Haruka made no hesitation to exit the room and make his way to answer it. He was not very pleased with who was on the other side. "Oh, General Ashura. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

General Ashura smiled at him. Haruka had always rather despised his peer. He seemed to delight far too much in the pain of others. "New orders from the council, General Doumeki. You and I need to saddle up with three teams and spread out over the southern farmlands. There's a raid underway."

. . . . . . . . . .

Haruka ignored the twinge in his chest as his heart twitched painfully in place. He released his arrows one after another as quickly as he could. This raid had been ugly.

Several young boys and girls had been dragged out of their homes by a seemingly mass exodus of witches in a sweeping attempt to gain more numbers. The younger the child was, the easier it was to convert them.

The mark on his shoulder thrummed with magic in time with his heartbeat. The feeling of it spreading through him seemed to tell him something about what he was doing. Kimihiro's magic did not like witches at all, and any that got too close to him were immediately zapped by an invisible barrier the mark formed around him.

Haruka loved his family with everything he had, but even then he could not stay with them forever. He did not want to get shuffled off to the veteran's center to die a painful death, and he more importantly did not want his family to see it. Kino did not understand right now, but in time he would. In time, when his death was knocking on his front door and demanding he be ripped away from all he cared about, one taste of the peace the Traveler offered would seem like a slice of heaven before oblivion. Haruka wanted that slice of heaven more than the air he breathed.

The last witch screamed as his arrow sped into her and she collapsed on the ground, even her limbs no longer twitching. The general sighed and rubbed at the center of his chest again. These missions were going to kill him quickly. He couldn't take the onslaught any longer. Kimihiro, where on earth are you?

Heat pressed against his back and arms wrapped around him. The smell of summer rain entered his nose. "Haruka, you've gone an injured yourself again. I can't leave you alone for a moment, can I?"

The hunter collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. He turned and wrapped his arms around the slim body, clutching the Traveler to him. "Where were you?"

Watanuki lowered himself to the hunter's level. "Family affairs kept me busy." His fingers curled into the hair at the back of Haruka's head and drew him in for a kiss. Haruka sighed at the contact. Kimihiro's magic filled him again and the feeling of his heart being split at the seams vanished.

"Take me with you," Haruka pleaded.

Watanuki nuzzled him affectionately. "Not yet, love. Soon. Very soon."

"Please," the hunter pleaded. "My heart can't take any more missions."

"And it won't have to," Kimihiro assured him. He kissed him again, fierce and hard and it left Haruka's mind reeling. "Let me take you home." Kimihiro stood and pulled Haruka by his arms to follow. The Traveler embraced him. The hunter felt the air twist around them into a silent whirlwind. Reality shifted like a mirage in a desert, sliding and changing and morphing.

A touch from Kimihiro's lips to his neck and suddenly they were in his bedroom back at the Doumeki family home. The beautiful man pushed the general to lay down on his bed and he complied.

The pads of Watanuki's fingertips danced across his chest and massaged the area directly above his heart. The incomprehensible peace from before settled into his bones and Haruka wanted nothing more than to bask in that feeling forever.

The hands on him paused as the sound of his door creaked open. Haruka was nearly going to ignore it until he heard a faint "Grandpa?" He turned his head and noticed the tiny body that had entered his room. "Shizuka," he murmured.

Watanuki froze as he looked at the tiny four year old boy. So... this is where he'd be. He stood and slowly made his way over to the small child. He knelt before him. "Hello, Shizuka."

Sharp gold eyes looked up at him and childish eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Who're you?"

Watanuki smiled when he put a hand on Shizuka's head and ruffled his hair. Yes. He could feel it. This child would be the one. Oh, but he was so young yet. He had many years to wait. "I'm a friend of your grandfather's. He's very tired right now. You should go and get some rest, too. It's very late."

The body rubbed his eyes at the reminder of the hour. "Momma said he had a mission."

"He did. He's back now, so go to sleep."

Shizuka shuffled passed Watanuki and looked over his grandfather's form on the bed. Haruka smiled at his grandson. "He's right, Shizuka. Get some rest. I will see you tomorrow."

Satisfied, the boy nodded. "Okay."

Once he was out the door Watanuki locked it. He came back to Haruka's side and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Sleep, Haruka. I will be back shortly."

"Don't make me wait long." He clutched at Kimihiro's hands like the other was going to disappear forever.

Pleasure thrummed through his blood when he was kissed again. He suddenly felt the intense need to press every part of himself against this man. Watanuki chuckled against his mouth. "I don't break my promises. I bound you to myself even though you're not fully compatible. I will take care of you, no matter what now."

. . . . . . . . . . .

When Haruka awoke he was nearly in a fever. It had been two days since Watanuki had brought him home from the battle field. He'd been calling the man's name as he slept, so when he awoke he found his son had bound him to his bed with thick rope. Protection bells had been attached to the knots and they jingled every time he struggled.

Kino, for his part, had looked apologetic, and had told his father that he was sorry, but it was for his own good. Haruka was unable to get truly angry, for it was not in his nature to do so, but never before had he wanted to punch his son so much as he did after those words.

He refused to eat, and Kino refused to let him go. Finally, after the end of the second day, the walls of the house shook as the front door was burst open by powerful gale force winds. Haruka could smell the Traveler in the air as soon as the wind made it to his door.

There was yelling, shouting, cursing, then his bedroom door burst open. "Kimihiro!" He cried out.

Watanuki's eyes looked at him, then narrowed dangerously. "Haruka, oh, what have they done to you?"

The hunter struggled against the ropes that tied him down. "I tried to leave, to look for you. They wouldn't let me!"

Kino's body shook as he kneeled on the ground, unable to move and stop this... witch... enter his home and steal his father. "Leave him alone!" he shouted. No matter how hard he tried he could not move.

Kimihiro sat next to the man that was straining to get near him. He seemed remorseful in some way as the ropes melted away from his hands. The seal was not fully compatible with Haruka, and now the only thing he could think about was Kimihiro and the incredible feelings his magic offered.

A pain free body was a unique, mysterious thing for an old hunter such as himself. He wasn't to be blamed.

As soon as he was free he sat upright quickly and wrapped his arms tightly around Watanuki. The Traveler's fingers found small purchase in his short black hair. "It's time I brought you home, your final home, Haruka."

"Stop! You monster!" Kino roared. Tears of frustration crested in his eyes. Watanuki merely ignored him, as did his father.

The wind picked up again, and the house shook with the force of it. An instant later and Watanuki and Haruka both were gone. Kino's fists clenched together so tightly his knuckles turned white. The sound of his wife and son crying in the room down the hall were all he could hear, aside from his haggard breath.

. . . . . . . . . .

Kissing Kimihiro was nothing short of drinking copious amounts of opium. Thoughts of the outside world faded away, along with the physical pain and mental anguish that had become his daily companions. When they made love Haruka felt his body might burst from the intense pleasure he felt. Kimihiro was fully dedicated to him.

His lover would whisper secrets in his ears during the times he rested in the Traveler's arms and relaxed a day away. He explained the search he was on, and what his Intended was supposed to be. He explained there were other Travelers like himself, where some had found their Intended, some not yet, and yet others still had sadly missed their chance.

He'd been away for two weeks because some Traveler, one of his friends named Yuui, had been too late to acquire his. Yuui committed suicide, and his twin Fai had been thrown into agony.

The names glazed over Haruka's mind but did not stick to his memory. His only care was listening to the sound of Kimihiro's voice tickling at his ear. He did not know if this was love or blind infatuation, but his pain was gone, tranquility hummed blissfully inside of him, and he didn't care.

Sometimes he would hear about the progress his grandson was making as he grew. Kimihiro spoke with pride as he explained the young Doumeki had taken up the bow and was showing skills that might one day surpass that of his grandfather and father. He talked about how he was a quiet and dedicated and did everything with purpose and pride. Haruka was content to hear his grandson was not drowning in the loss of his relative.

One day, he found he could not move his legs from the bed. Kimihiro had said nothing, but his eyes were sad, so he started to bring Haruka's meals to him in bed.

Weeks later, Haruka could not move his arms or his torso. He felt no pain, no sensations at all. He felt no shame, only gratefulness, as Kimihiro's gentle hands bathed him, dressed him, and fed him.

One day, as Kimihiro clutched him and pressed his hand against his heart, Haruka confessed "I wish it could have been me."

The hold on him tightened. "Of all the Doumeki men I've mistaken for my Intended, you are my favorite, Haruka. A part of me wishes it could have been you as well." His breath washed over the dying hunter's neck. "But do not spend time wishing for something that could never be. It will only bring grief." Kisses dotted across his neck. "Be grateful for the time we have had together, instead."

"I am," Haruka confirmed. "I love you." Kimihiro's magic continued to be pumped into his chest. "I'm dying," he mused out loud.

"Rest," the Traveler merely said. "You must rest now. Your soul needs it."

Haruka closed his eyes. "I will miss you."

"You will never be truly gone, Haruka. We will still see each other in the Dreamscape."

He smiled. "I'm glad."

A handful of breaths later, and his chest stop rising, and his heart stopped beating. Kimihiro spared a few tears that slid down his cheeks. He would miss this man.

. . . . . . . . . .

Doumeki Shizuka woke up in a cold sweat. His heart thudded painfully, and he thought he felt the ghost of pain his grandfather had shared with him in the Dreamscape. For a moment he didn't remember which person he was and he had to jump out of bed and stumble to the mirror on his wall.

His eyes were dark with bags under his eyes. His hair was a mess and adrenaline pumped through him. He couldn't separate Haruka's intense feelings for the Traveler from his own yet and he felt a sob choke up in his throat. He wondered for a moment if he'd ever find himself again.